Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation
Information Bulletin

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

January 25, 2001

Christine Baker

(415) 703-4220

Commission Issues Final Report and Recommendations on
Information for Industrially-Injured Workers

SAN FRANCISCO  At its meeting on January 24, 2001 in Los
Angeles, the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation (CHSWC) voted to
approve the final report and legislative recommendations regarding information for injured
workers.

The Commission noted that various laws and regulations had been
identified as problematic with respect to workers compensation benefit notices and
directed that proposed statutory changes to the Labor Code be developed to address those
problems.

The primary purpose of the proposed legislative changes is to make
uniform the Labor Code provisions regarding notices to injured workers. The intent of the
recommendations are to improve the information given to employees by employers prior to
and soon after injury, information available at state Information and Assistance offices,
information from claims administrators, the content and clarity of benefit notices, and
the timing of some of the most problematic benefit notices. This final report updates the
Commission report and recommendations issued in May 2000.

The Commission, created by the workers' compensation reform legislation
of 1993, is charged with overseeing the health and safety and workers' compensation
systems in California and recommending administrative or legislative modifications to
improve their operation. The Commission was established to conduct a continuing
examination of the workers' compensation system and of the state's activities to prevent
industrial injuries and occupational diseases and to examine those programs in other
states.

Information about the Commission may be accessed on the internet at the
California Department of Industrial Relations' home page at www.dir.ca.gov/CHSWC.
Information may also be obtained by writing to Christine Baker, Executive Officer,
Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation, 455 Golden Gate Avenue, 10th
Floor, San Francisco, California 94102, by calling (415) 703-4220, or by faxing a request
to (415) 703-4234.